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Lophocolea appalachiana Schuster
Appalachian Crestwort
Federal Protection: No US federal protection
State Protection: No Georgia state protection
Global Rank: G2
State Rank: S1?
Element Locations Tracked in Biotics: Yes
SWAP 2015 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): No
SWAP 2025 Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN): Yes
2025 SGCN Priority Tier: Highest Conservation Concern
Element Occurrences (EOs) in Georgia: 2
Habitat Summary for element in Georgia: Riparian zones on deeply shaded wet non-calcareous rocks and occasionally on logs
Lophocolea appalachiana is a leafy liverwort with flattened shoots (leaves and stems) about 2 to 2.5 mm wide that grow prostrate over the substrate. Plants are deep green in color. Leaves are imbricate and inserted obliquely on the stem such that younger leaves shingle overtop older leaves. Leaves are noticeably two-ranked with a third row of much smaller bilobed underleaves that are hidden from view unless dissected. Lateral leaves are shallowly bilobed or entire (unlobed and without teeth). Plants are autoecious, male and female inflorescences are frequent and borne on separate branches.
Lophocolea appalachiana is similar to the more widespread and common L. bidentata (=L. cuspidata). Given the polymorphic tendencies of L. bidentata, Schuster (1980) clearly indicated that he was less than fully confident that L. appalachiana was a distinct species. But to deny this variant taxonomic status seemed untenable given that it is unique to the southern Appalachians, appearing nowhere else in the range of the globally widely occurring L. bidentata. Among the characters used to delineate L. appalachiana from L. bidentata, three may be considered definitive: 1) male bracts with rounded apices, rarely obscurely emarginate (in L. bidentata male bracts are bidendate to bilobed), 2) underleaves not, or hardly wider than stem (in L. bidentata underleaves generally wider than stem), and 3) lateral leaves very shallowly bilobed, bicuspidate, to entire (in L. bidendata lateral leaves bilobed, the lobes longly acuminate). The keels of the trigonous perianths are stongly winged in L. appalachiana, while perianth keels may be with or without wings in L. bidentata. The color of L. appalachiana is deep green, while the color of L. bidentata may be deep green to more commonly a pale yellowish green. Indeed, the deep green color coupled with the lack of bilobed leaves bearing acuminate lobes makes Lophocolea appalachiana easily recognizable in the field.
Lophocolea appalachiana is a species that colonizes shaded, wet, noncalcareous rocky habitats overhung by Rhododendron maximum in Tsuga canadensis-cove hardwood forests. The species occurs over wet rock, sometimes vertical rock faces in drips or over mineral soil that has accumulated over rock along creek banks and under rock ledges, rarely on wet logs or exposed roots, often in the splash zone of waterfalls or along seeps and rivulets and slow moving, shaded streamlets. It appears to disperse locally by spores and may only persist in a given locality for a few years before succession or local perturbations erase it. While data on timing of gametangia and spore production is mostly lacking, mature capsules have been seen in April (Tennessee) and young female shoots have been noted in July (North Carolina) and August (Georgia). Presumably, sporophytes are conceived in summer and mature the following spring.
While considered to be a species restricted to between 4500 and 3500 feet in elevation (Schuster 1980), additional populations as low as 1200 ft. elevation in the southern Blue Ridge escarpment have been found. Associated bryophytes include: Liverworts: Conocephalum salebrosum, Jubula pennsylvanica, Jungermannia evansii, Pellia appalachiana, Plagiochila porelloides, Riccardia multifida, Scapania undulata; Hornwort: Megaceros aenigmaticus; and Mosses: Amblystegium tenax, Hookeria acutifolia, and Sciaromium lescurii.
Wet rocks in shaded stream ravines in the Blue Ridge.
Known from two locations in the Cumberland Plateau (Letcher Co., KY, and Fentress Co., TN), otherwise a species of the southern Blue Ridge known from Georgia (Rabun Co.), North Carolina (Jackson, Graham, Macon, and Swain Cos.), South Carolina (Oconee and Pickens Cos.) and Tennessee (Sevier Co.).
Loss of habitat. The loss of overstory Tsuga canadensis to exotic insect infestation may negatively impact the species, but this is conjecture given that required shade is provided by both woody shrubs, other trees, and surrounding terrain.
| Threat 1 | Threat 2 | Threat 3 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Threat | Natural system modifications | Human intrusions & disturbance | Invasive & other problematic species, genes & diseases |
| Specific Threat | Dams & water management/use | Recreational activities | Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases |
Further field surveys to monitor known populations and to discover new ones. Protection of shaded stream ravines where the species is known to occur, i.e. no removal of Rhododendron or trees occurring along streams and waterfalls.
Schuster, R. M. 1980. The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America, East of the Hundredth Meridian, Vol. IV. Columbia University Press: New York.
Paul G. Davison
September 2010